The Nurses Union says it has received confirmation from Auditor General Denise Hanrahan that her office will conduct a performance audit of health sector contracts.
RNU President Yvette Coffey says recent revelations about contracts with nursing agencies in the public system and what she calls the “exorbitant” amount of taxpayers dollars spent are “mind blowing.”
She says contracts have gone from $1 million a year a few years ago, to more than $36 million spent in less than five months.
Despite the expenditure, Coffey says care has not improved, and waitlists remain long.
The RNU wrote the AG on three separate occasions asking that a performance audit be carried out on the agency contracts with the health authority.
Coffey says the union was told by the AG that a performance audit could take up to a year and a half to complete.